WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Memphis women's tennis team continued its impressive run at the USTA ITA Ohio Valley Regional on Saturday as the Lady Tigers went 11-2 on the second day of the regional on the campus of Purdue University.

Memphis began the day in doubles as No. 2 Tiffany Welcher and Alyssa Hibberd advanced to the semifinals of the main draw, defeating Purdue's Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum and Mara Schmidt, 8-3, for their third win of the regional. The duo will go up against No. 3 Ashleigh Antal and Marie Casares of Vanderbilt tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. for a chance to qualify for their second-straight regional finals appearance. In the consolation draw, Kelly Gray and Stefanie Mikesz defeated Kentucky's Khristina Blajketvitch and Stephanie Fox, 8-3, to move on to the semifinals in the draw. The Lady Tigers will face No. 4 Daniela Vidal and Lynda Xepoleas of Purdue also at 9:30.

In singles play, No. 5 Welcher advanced to the quarterfinals with a win over East Tennessee State's Antonia Kolovou, 6-4, 6-3, before taking down Alix Thurman of Miami (OH), 6-1, 6-2. Welcher will play No. 4 Lauren Mira of Vanderbilt at 11:15 a.m. tomorrow.

"Tiffany is closing out matches with great mentality and confidence," said head coach Lee Taylor Walker. "If she keeps this pace, nobody can stop her. It's her tournament to lose."

No. 12 Hibberd came from behind to defeat Cincinnati's Jasmine Lee, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, before dropping a tough match to No. 3 Marie Casares of Vanderbilt in the round of 16, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Also in the main draw was Caroline Wegner, who fell to No. 8 Rebecca Shine of Louisville, 6-4, 6-3.

"I was very proud of the way Alyssa fought through her first one today and played with passion and conviction in her second match today," Walker said.

In the consolation draw, Skylar Kuykendall downed Eastern Kentucky's Melissa Gerritsen, 6-4, 6-1, and No. 16 Yuiri Nomotoof Middle Tennessee, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals. Kuykendall will play Christiana Raymond of Miami (OH) at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. Gray and Liza Tymchenko cruised in their matches as Gray took down Jovana Pecovski of Chattanooga, 6-1, 6-1, and Tymchenko defeated Flavia Nagayama of Middle Tennessee, 6-1, 6-0. In the second round, Gray rallied back for a win over Ayaka Terashi of Ball State, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, while Tymchenko beat Lyn Yee Choo of East Tennessee State, 6-3, 6-1. Gray will now face Alex Brinker of Xavier at 2:15 p.m. tomorrow with Tymchenko set to play Caroline Hedrick from Butler at 9:30 a.m.

"All back draw players fought through tough conditions today and I'm proud of their fight and determination," Walker said.

Fans go follow along with the team's progress at the USTA ITA Ohio Valley Regional by visiting the Memphis Women's Tennis Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MemphisWomensTennis or by visiting the team's Twitter account @UofMTennis.